Help me sort my hands out!

[Goldstar88]

Posting for traffic. My hands have never been in such a terrible, dry state. Not even just dry but I have these deep cuts on my fingers/knuckles that are so painful when I do anything with my hands, often bleed etc. I’ve never had it like this before. I’m at a bit of a loss as to what’s causing it. I’ve always had dry hands in the winter but they’ve tended to just be general dry skin, fixed with moisturiser, never as bad as this.

Some context/what I’ve tried so I don’t drip feed!

• I’ve been to the GP, they suggested emollients (Dermol) which I use as soap every time I wash my hands.

• I’m 13 months pp and still breastfeeding - could that be a factor?

• I use rubber gloves every time I do any sort of washing up or cleaning.

• I either have hands in pockets or in gloves every time I’m out walking at the moment, unless doing something quickly with phone etc!

• I try to use gentle shower gels, face washes etc. I was using an acidic bonding shampoo but have switched to a Garnier Hair Food one in case it’s my shampoo, doesn’t seem to help.

• I put a thick emollient cream on every night before bed (although sometimes hands are too sore to bear it) but invariably if DC wakes up I end up having to wash my hands after a nappy change etc. so I guess it’s not always on for hours at a time.

What am I missing? I feel I’m going to have to change every shower product I own to see what it is? It must be something I’m using daily, surely? They’re currently feeling so dry, tight and sore and I’m at a loss.

Any words of wisdom??

Hi OP,
That sounds rough. I have suffered from dry cracked hands many years ago.

I would start taking a multi-vitamin with omega oils as well - make sure it is suitable for a breastfeeding feeding mum.

Switch to soap for handwashing and showers e.g. I have shield in the shower and Dove on the sink.

Although pricy 8 hour cream is very good - it's like a medicated vaseline.

When you are no longer breastfeeding - or on your doctors advice you could try a cream like Daktarin in case a fungal infection underlies your problem.

Sounds very similar to my hands when I was pp. I needed to see dermatology & was prescribed steroid creams as well as lots of emollients for contact dermatitis, a case of trying everything to find what works for you. Dermatology did say that all the nappy changing wouldn't help with hands & really important to use gloves when I had hacks in my skin due to risk of faecal contamination/infection. I was given steroid with antibiotics in it for those times.
I still have rubbish skin 20yrs later but never as bad as in the nappy yrs.
You can't moisturise too much, I would be literally putting creams on every 5 mins whenever I got the chance to sit down.
I would go back to your GP & ask for a referral.

I have a toddler and am pregnant and have the exact same issue!! Two finger joints are bleeding most days and my knuckles. Sooo dry. now the back of my thumbs are going the same way.

im not as good as you, I only wear washing up gloves half the time. I didn’t know I should be wearing gloves for nappy changes.
im wearing gloves when outside in the cold most of the time. I’m washing my hands waaay to much much as nappies, always cleaning the house and then always wash hands before and after touching the kids food due to allergies. Argh !

Have you tried cotton gloves to wear at night? I found putting on emollient and then the gloves on top really helped the cream soak in. I’m also allergic to rubber gloves so that makes my hands worse (though I understand if you have to wear them to change nappies).

Some members of my family got hands like this after using Carex, Moon and Stars hand wash (I think it was, something like that!) they've never recovered but it was only since they all bought some of that because it smelled so nice. Mine didn't get so bad but I really noticed how much it dried my hands out.

On another note, I think it could be Surf laundry detergent, that made my brothers hands really bad. That and general, popular washing up liquids. Even wearing gloves while washing dishes, didn't prevent it. He bought some Eco washing up liquid (Ecover?) and he can easily use that without gloves now. He had to use Aveeno (unscented) daily and Hydrocortisone when it got really bad and sore. He uses Lidls own brand washing powder now, Daz was fine too. His hands have finally cleared up after years of being scaly/cracked/sore. So maybe try different laundry detergent/natural washing up liquid and see if anything improves.

I have used betnovate (a steroid cream) since I was a child and it works wonders, I usually see a difference in just 1-2 days.

I have eczema with the exact symptoms as you describe on my own hands, worse in winter and when washing hands often if that’s helpful. It also flares up a bit when messing with cardboard boxes but that’s allergy related and a separate issue I think.

Thank you - interestingly I read about switching to soap rather than shower gel and am planning to this week!

hadn't thought about fungal, would that cause random cracks?

I try to eat well but I think omega 3 supplement is a good shout - I currently only take vitamin d.

I understand your pursuit of hygiene but bleeding and broken skin defeats the object. Lay off the handwashing. And try water-only handwashing, which can remove 80% of the germs that soap would do.

Same issues as you with young children and breastfeeding although always had dry skin. Only thing that heals it for me is a cream with urea in. Flexitol hand balm has been a lifesaver or creams for cracked heels. I use a flexitol heel balm (20% urea I think) when I have a really sore cut. Was recommended by the GP and had flexitol hand balm prescribed but you can get it from amazon too

Thank you - I’m definitely going to go back to the GP. I suppose I am probably washing my hands a million more times a day than I did pre DC, nappies, preparing food, clearing up etc. I hadn’t thought about the cracks with contamination - yikes!! Surgical gloves?

After suffering with sore dry hands a few times, and other skin irritations over the years I now only use simple unscented bar soap, and all my moisturiser is unscented too. I'm convinced it's the perfumes that cause the problem. I second Aveeno also.

Also I use an alternative to steroid cream that the GP prescribed - protopic

Sorry to hear you’re struggling too! I think it must be all the hand washing. I’m really going to try and make sure I dry them properly and moisturise afterwards but it’s so hard to remember when constantly rushing around!

After having my baby I switched to an unscented hand wash (think the brand is Simple) and also use the Milton bottle cleaner (not steriliser) which seems more gentle on skin than dish soap and that helped a lot as I was washing bottles etc regularly and personally absolutely don’t like to not use some kind of soap.

I did get a horrible flare up a month or so ago of proper red scaly eczema after stupidly buying some Carex that was on offer! I wonder if that’s triggered this.

Good shout on the washing detergent - currently use a mix of Ariel pods and Fairy/Persil Non Bio for the DC but I handle so much wet washing every day I wonder if that’s partly the culprit…hmm!

Mine turned out to be a lanolin allergy. Stuff I'd used for years caused splits & bleeding (so much so there was blood on my steering wheel).
The thick emolient prescribed (before I knew it was lanolin) made it worse as it contained lanolin. I ended up doing my own process of elimination.
Now use Neutrogena Norwegian Formula. And check ingredients before using anything.

Get these gloves, then at bedtime slather your hands with a non scented cream and put the gloves on. It will help.

Operative word: SLATHER!

www.amazon.co.uk/cotton-gloves-dry-hands/s?k=cotton+gloves+for+dry+hands

Thank you! Funnily enough my heels are horribly dry and painful at the moment too.

The mirena coil did this to my hands - weird side effect! I had it fitted after I had my babies so like you thought it was maybe wipes allergy, more handwashing etc etc… as soon as the coil was removed they cleared up.

Did you have a coil fitted?

Oh you can also get moisturising socks for your feet if your feet are suffering. You need to give your skin some pampering!

Do you have Pompholyx (dyshidrotic eczema)?

I have had this worse than ever this winter, my mother suggested okeefe's working hands so I picked some up from the chemist. Applied it multiple times throughout the day and it really helped clear it up. Stopped using it for a couple of weeks and my hands are sore again with deep cracks, agony when handwashing 😰

I’d suggest taking photos when they are bad. Otherwise it will be typical that you manage to get to the gp and on that day they won’t be so bad! So maybe some images of them at their worst just so you have the evidence.

No, not on any contraception! I do wonder if my hormones are still in flux due to breastfeeding?

Try getting some decent bar soap (triple milled)
Omega 3 and vitamin B.
O’Keefe working hands hand cream.

Try washing your hands less-I’d do when it’s necessary-before food prep, after changing pooey nappy and after visiting the toilet,also after dealing with raw meat.

Cracks need air to heal so don’t wear gloves constantly.